Potential Security Deterioration in Mateh Binyamin

For years when there had been reports of terror attacks, drive bys, rammings, shootings, stabbings at various roadside bus stops in Gush Etzion and the Shomron (Samaria), I'd be able to say that in Mateh Binyamin our security experts have tried to protect us by not approving roadside bus stops. This has now changed.

There have always been trempiadas, hitchhiking posts on the main roads, but official bus stops had been restricted to either inside of communities passing guard posts, like in Ofra, Kochav Hashachar and Sha'ar Binyamin or inside junctions, where there are soldiers stationed, like near the gas station on the way to Psagot/Tel Zion. And until two days ago, January 20, 2019, Givat Asaf, the T junction to Beit El and Ramalla.

When the road "planners" of Mateh Binyamin "upgraded" that junction, which has been plagued by traffic jams and terror attacks, they somehow forgot that not only are there buses that go to and from Beit El, but all of the buses on Highway 60 in both directions turn in so that passengers can board and unboard. More frequently than you'd like to imagine, the buses got stuck, because various vehicles blocked their way. In addition, there was no coordination between where the buses turned and the exiting bus stop. The whole setup had become a major nightmare, but at least if I caught a ride going into Beit El, I could wait relatively safely on the inner road for a bus going towards Jerusalem.

For me, ramming terror attacks are something I've experienced, so I fear them more than other terror genres. I was lightly injured in the very first ramming terror attack over twenty years ago. 

I was horrified to discover that from now on the official bus stops are on the main road. There is now a traffic light, including a pedestrian one, but that decreases security. I've passed by a few times already, and travelers are on their own there. Security personnel stand in relative safety inside structures on the inner road leading to Beit El and Ramalla.

Here are some photos I took yesterday going north on my way home to Shiloh:

the new Givat Asaf Junction, showing its traffic lights

bus stop going south towards Jerusalem
buses stopped to pick up and let off passengers will stop traffic

going north to Ofra, Shiloh and Ariel

going north to Ofra, Shiloh and Ariel

Is This Art?

It could be. Maybe it's a glass mosaic aka stained glass? There's something haunting about it, like a Vincent Van Gogh painting when his demons were overpowering him.

Well, the truth is that the "technique" is related to "demons," but not the imaginary kind, not the kind of a schizophrenic, chemically imbalanced mind.

Yesterday, when I got on the bus home from Sha'ar Binyamin burdened with heavy shopping bags, the closest unoccupied seat was by a cracked window. I try not to sit by cracked windows. The buses that ply our routes have bulletproof windows. They are also strong enough to stay whole/unbroken if a rock is thrown at it. To be accurate, that's true until you see cracks like this one had.

bus window cracked by Arab terrorists attack

The recent increase in Arab terror attacks, davka, on the road we travel, has killed, injured and caused damage. Thank Gd yesterday's trip to and from Jerusalem was uneventful, but we can never take an easy and safe trip for granted.

Only in Israel, Terror Victims, Cared for by All

Decades ago, when a horrendous fatal car accident halved a local family, the injured survivors were cared for in the same hospital room, where they sat shiva together. Many times since, I've seen pictures of hospitalized family members, of both sexes and various ages, in the same hospital room. It's a very humane and comforting policy, which doesn't exist in other countries.

The young couple, Shira and Amichai Ish-Ran, who as a result of an Arab terror attack outside of Ofra, not only were injured, but as a result of Shira's injury, their baby didn't survive. They are now together in Shaare Tzedek Hospital in the same room. Obviously, after such physical, medical and emotional trauma, they have a lot to deal with. Separation would have only made it worse.

According to Jewish Law, there's no mourning, shiva-all the usual restrictions, after the death of a tiny baby under a month old, so friends came to sing to them.



Do you see this in other countries? Only in Israel.

No Words... אין מילים

Many people here in Israel and the Jewish World know exactly what I mean.

A tiny baby died today.

The tiny baby was one of the youngest victims of Arab terrorism.

The tiny baby was even younger than Yehuda Shoham, HaY"aD, a neighbor of mine, who at the age of five months died as the result of a terror attack less than twenty years ago.

There have been so many Arab terror attacks against innocent Jews that it's hard to remember them all, and it's hard to remember all of the victims.

But for the past few days many of us have been praying for this tiny baby, whether we know the family or not. Actually, many of us have discovered that we do know the family. And even if we don't have a personal connection, how could anyone remain disengaged from the story of a young beautiful couple who had been among a handful of people trying to get a ride outside of Ofra and were shot and injured by Arab terrorists?

The most seriously injured was a young woman,  married barely a year ago. She was pregnant with their first child. And now the baby is dead, and the young mother has to recover from life-threatening injuries.

Our thoughts, love and sympathy are with Amichai and Shira Ish-Ran, their family and close friends.

Baruch Dayan Ha'emett
ברוך דיין האמת
Blessed is The True Judge

Section of Shiloh Cemetery
The cemetery was started when Rachella Druk, HaYa"D, was murdered by Arab terrorists over twenty five years ago.

What is Happening to The USA? Anger, Hate, Murder

Another awful "inexplicable" so far mass murder attack in the United States.

Gunman storms small-town Texas church, killing at least 26
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas (Reuters) - A gunman with an assault rifle stormed a church in rural Texas on Sunday, killing at least 26 worshippers and wounding 20 others in a rampage to be notched into a litany of mass shootings that have plagued the United States in recent years.

At least 26 killed in mass shooting at Texas church
At least 26 people were killed and 20 wounded in Texas after a gunman dressed in tactical gear opened fire at a church outside San Antonio on Sunday, investigators confirmed.
Multiple sources speaking to Fox News identified the gunman as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley. The mass shooting unfolded around 11:30 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, which is about 30 miles southeast of San Antonio.
Investigators said at a news conference Sunday evening that the victims ranged in age from 5 to 72 years old. One official said about 20 people were hospitalized with injuries ranging from minor to "very severe."

American society is deteriorating for sure. The violence began long before Donald Trump was elected president, so don't blame him.

I'm glad I live far away in Israel. With all the problems here, we don't see people violently turning on society like you get in the states.

Safety Tremping- Are The New Poles Safer Than Cement Blocks?

Yesterday, while on the bus on the way to work, while passing Ofra I saw that the cement blocks protecting trempistim aka hitchhikers were being replaced by brightly colored  poles.

going north, towards Shiloh, Eli, Ariel etc

going north, towards Shiloh, Eli, Ariel etc

going south, towards Jerusalem

Even though these poles are installed well and into the ground, I am not impressed, nor am I comforted nor feel safer. The security experts first started putting in poles to protect bus stops and hose waiting, after the terrorist rammed into us twenty years ago. They do protect a bit when the weapon is a regular car. But I always felt much safer when able to hid behind those cement barriers if there would be a shooting attack by terrorists.

No, Baruch Hashem and bli eyin haraa, (not the tempt the Evil Eye,) I was never shot at. But while waiting for buses and tremps (rides) I do rehearse in my mind how to hide from danger. And considering the amount of shooting attacks, I don't think that the cement barriers should be scrapped.

What do you think?

What Was The Point of That Boston Marathon Bombing?

What is there to say besides רפואה שלימה Refuah Shleimah,  Complete Recovery to the injured and May G-d Comfort the mourners?  The United States is a frightening place.

In America, one doesn't quite know who, where and what are dangerous.  What was the point, the aim of that Boston Marathon bombing?  Has anarchy reached the streets and events of the United States of America?  I don't quite see it as the terrorism as I know it living here in Israel when nobody is quite sure who the bombers are and what they want.

At least 3 dead, more than 100 hurt after two bombs explode at Boston Marathon
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/15/explosion-reported-near-finish-line-boston-marathon-spokesman-says/#ixzz2QbFO2Dav

The deadly bombing at the Boston Marathon that killed at least three and injured more than 130 is believed to be an act of terrorism, senior White House officials told Fox News.
Two explosions tore through the finish line of the world-famous race just before 3 p.m., going off simultaneously as throngs of onlookers watched runners complete the 26.2-mile trek. The timing of the blasts immediately sparked suspicions of a deliberate act.
“When multiple devices go off, that’s an act of terrorism,” a senior administration official told Fox News, just moments after President Obama delivered a statement to the nation and did not use the word “terror.”
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/15/explosion-reported-near-finish-line-boston-marathon-spokesman-says/#ixzz2QbGcKV4u

I've ranted plenty about winning that American security check lottery aka random checking.  Israeli security practices profiling, which judges/analyzes me as what I am, a harmless overweight grandmother.  During my last trip to the states a few months ago, I was "patted down" so frequently, most of the time being told, "just random checking."  Too bad I hadn't bought a lottery ticket; I could have won a million dollars instead, since my name was coming up so often.

I live in Israel.  I'm the survivor of a terror attack.  I was even injured in that attack, though very lightly.  I've lost friends and neighbors to terror attacks, so please don't consider me blind to the dangers.  In all honesty, I think America is a more frightening place.  We here in Israel have some idea who our enemies are.  In the USA, considering the impossibility to predict attacks, shootings, etc. the attacker may be anyone at all, a disgruntled and/or unstable child, teen, employee, neighbor, family member or stranger.  And, yes, there may also be foreign anarchists and terrorists ideologically and culturally related to the same Arab terrorists who want to murder Jews and destroy the State of Israel.

I ask in all sincerity:

How Americans can protect themselves from such dangers?

Honestly, I don't know.